NTAUUSRecognition Awards

An exploration of the mystery of altruism — is it a religious impulse? A sociological imperative? Or a psychological need to connect with others with love and self-sacrifice?

Drawing upon recent research, ancient intuition, and real-life examples, Christine sheds light on how we can serve the world and heal ourselves at the same time.

Rev. Dr. Christine Tata

Dr. Tata has lifelong ties to Unitarian Universalism, from her UU upbringing in the Texas Bible Belt to her service for UUA congregations, as well as in the progressive United Church of Christ, in which she is ordained. She served as senior pastor for UCC churches in Dallas and California, and was later called to be Associate Pastor for Worship on the startup team for the innovative Pathways UU congregation.

As a Juilliard-trained former actress with a PhD in rhetoric and literary studies, she has a wide-ranging interest in communicating important messages in engaging ways, and she is a frequent guest preacher in area UU pulpits. She recently facilitated the NTUUC-supported Wide Awake Worship workshop, which explored fresh ways for liberal congregations to create meaningful space/time and authentic celebrations of worship. Apart from her “day job” as director of policy administration at an academic medical center in Dallas, Christine continues to seek out elusive signs of ultimate meaning and does what she can to inspire and affirm liberal seekers and believers.

2015 Grants Awarded

NTUUC also presents grants to our congregations at the awards luncheon. For 2015, the following grants were awarded:

NTUUC Recognition Awards

The goal of these awards is to recognize and honor those who contribute to the cause of the Unitarian Universalist religion and congregations in North Texas, to identify role models and Best Practices across NTUUC, and to make visible the contributions of our congregations to the wider North Texas and UU communities. The NTUUC Recognition Awards are designed to recognize valued volunteers, staff members, and ministers of NTUUC congregations.

We have named our recognition awards after three pioneers from our North Texas UU history.

Ruth Reinhardt Clark

Ruth Rienhardt Clark was instrumental in building the Unitarian Universalist presence in North Texas. The first person to be a paid Director of Religious Education in the Southwest Conference, she was on staff at First Unitarian of Dallas, as well as a leader in the Women’s Alliance. In 1987, she and Harold retired to Denton where they joined the Denton UU Fellowship, and were active until Harold’s death in 2002, after sixty-five years of marriage. Ruth remained part of the congregation until her death in 2009, shortly after giving her blessing to naming our award in her honor.

With a warm smile and sparking blue eyes, she welcomed an ever-increasing number of children and parents to RE classes. Ruth found time for each and every child, and helped them all to feel special; it was that leadership that helped build the RE program into one nurturing two hundred children a year.

Ruth also helped build the programs at other NTAUUS congregations, mentoring numerous other Directors of RE and helping them ‘learn the ropes’ of implementing curriculums as well as recruiting and training teachers. We owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude for laying the foundation of our Religious Education programs.

Her boundless curiosity ranged from theology and the nature of the universe to science, poetry, art, mythology, literature and Texas birds and flowers; creative as well, she blessed many friends with her ceramics, drawings, and paintings. She had a rarely matched enthusiasm for life and great patience and affection for those around her, and this award is our attempt to pass on that zest for life.

Marty Robinson

Having first joined a Florida congregation, Marty Robinson became part of Jefferson Unitarian Church in the early 1970s, and headed up the RE program before moving to Germany. When she returned a few months later, she had to settle in Dallas - she said "she couldn't go back to Ft. Worth after they had given her such a big send-off!"

Marty went on to serve as President of First Unitarian in Dallas, and in 1986 helped found Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church in Farmers Branch/Carrollton. She has been instrumental in its continued growth and success, serving in many capacities, including President and chair of Pastoral Caregivers.

Marty has also served as President of SWUUC, (the SW District of the UUA) and Chair of Volunteers for the 1994 General Assembly in Ft. Worth.

Rev. Robert Jules Raible

The Rev. Robert Jules Raible was minister of First Unitarian Church of Dallas from 1942 until 1964. When he arrived in Dallas, the congregation had 175 members and was meeting in rented space; five years later, they had purchased land on Preston Road and moved into their current home. By the end of his tenure, three building phases had been completed, with the new sanctuary completed in time for his retirement.

"Daddy Bob," as he was affectionally known, had "a twinkle in his eyes and a warm tone in his voice that made everyone he met feel special," according to Elaine Wildman, whose wedding ceremony he performed in 1955. He was especially good at persuading all to be involved, but did not hesitate to send someone to another church if our theology was not a good fit. When a person would announce their desire to join, he would first ask, "Have you been to XYZ Church?" He also worked for social justice in conjunction with Temple Emmanu-el at a time when there were few liberal voices in the area, and publicly pressured the Dallas school board to move ahead with desegregation.

Though he was not large physically, his legacy is not minor: he helped build First Unitarian into a strong and viable institution as well as starting the congregations in Oak Cliff, Denton, and Fort Worth. He even maneuvered to have new congregations accepted chronologically instead of alphabetically so that Oak Cliff, after the 1961 merger, would be the first chartered by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Raible Place is appropriately named in his honor, as it was the first integrated apartment complex in the North Texas area and the national ideal for the HUD program that helped us build this affordable housing project. Its sale in 2001 provided the endowment which continues to today help build our congregations.

It is with this history that we name the NTAUUS ministry award for Daddy Bob, who did so much to establish our faith institution in North Texas.